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Call for Papers

Posted on Oct 2, 2014 by in Updates | 0 comments

The Utah Historical Review is pleased to announce our annual Call for Papers.

UHR is a yearly history journal published by Phi Alpha Theta – Alpha Rho, the University of Utah’s chapter of the National History Honors Society.

All undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, and faculty from Utah institutions of higher learning are encouraged to submit papers and book reviews of historical significance to the journal for publication.[1] Additionally UHR is happy to accept papers of any origin that deal directly with the history of Utah or the Intermountain West.

Accepted articles will be available to the public both online at epubs.utah.edu and in a print version available for purchase through the journal’s website or the Marriott Library at the University of Utah.

The journal will have the following sections:

  • Undergraduate Papers
    • Underclassmen: Papers from freshmen and sophomores.
    • Upperclassmen: Papers from juniors, seniors and those who have just completed their degrees.
  • Graduate Papers: Both Master’s and PhD students are represented in this section.
  • History Professionals: Faculty and those who work in history professions are invited to submit work.
  • Book Reviews: The Utah Historical Review welcomes reviews of recently published works dealing with history and biography utilizing an academic method of analysis. Reviews should be between 700 and 900 words in length.

The Utah Historical Review seeks to encourage and promote history scholarship on all academic levels; therefore, we seek to publish quality papers from graduate students, upper-classmen, and lower-classmen. We evaluate papers by taking into account the level of academic experience the student-writer has attained.

Checklist for all papers:

2013 Cover of Utah Historical Review

  • Quality of argument.
  • Grasp of sources.
  • Persuasiveness -or- informative value.
  • Legal right to publish: All work submitted must be original works by the author, adhering to the highest professional standards against plagiarism.
  • The journal is published using the guidelines found in the Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition. Papers not complying with the CMS will be rejected.
  • Documented bibliography.
  • Any photographs, map, paintings, or other graphics included in papers must either be creations of the author or in the public domain. Papers containing graphics which are the intellectual property of third parties will be rejected without exception—the UHR does not have the staff or financial resources to deal with IP claims.

Requirements for papers from underclassmen:

  • Length: There is no upper limit for the length of any papers submitted; however, we prefer underclassman papers to between 5 and 10 pages of double-spaced text in a 12 point font.

Additional criteria for papers from upperclassmen:

  • Quality and breadth of primary and secondary source materials.
  • Paper length again is not limited but ideally should be between 10 and 15 pages.

Additional requirements for graduate papers:

  • Selection and use of primary sources to defend the paper’s central thesis.
  • Graduate papers should be of full professional journal size between 20 and 40 pages.
200 – 300 word abstracts must be submitted by 1 June 2015. Abstracts which are selected will have full papers due no later than 1 July 2015 for inclusion in the 2015 volume of Utah Historical Review. Use this form to submit your abstract.

If your abstract is accepted, you will need to include the following with your full paper submission:

  • The Utah Historical Review and other academic journals hosted at the University of Utah (epubs.utah.edu) use the Open Journal System (OJS) to review, edit, and publish articles. You must learn how to navigate the system before you will be able to publish your article—fortunately there is an easy 12 page .pdf that will tell you every thing you need to know. Click here to read the document before you start the following steps and download it for easy reference during the process. Editors and Reviewers will need more detailed information which can be found here.
  • Short biography of author, which should include the school you attend, your program orauthor silhouettes focus and your academic standing (sophomore, junior, grad student, etc). You may include honors you have received and your plans for the future (career or school).
  • Picture of Author: 750 x 1050 pixels. The picture should show the author’s head and torso — displaying your personality is good, but remember this will be a picture potential schools and employers may see. You will not be able to submit a photo this size to the OJS system, please send it to the email address you receive your acceptance letter from.
  • A short 30-word description of your paper for use in the table of contents.
  • A signed release giving The Utah Historical Review the legal right to publish your work in all formats. You retain full ownership of your work and may use it any way you wish, you only agree to allow Utah Historical Review the right to initially publish that work.
  • ATTENTION: If these items are not received within 48 hours of your paper submission, your paper will be rejected.
The Utah Historical Review also invites Utah students of higher education to participate in the journal as editors and proofreaders. Please click here for more information.

Once your paper has been published, your work will be indexed by Google Scholar and be available to other researchers across the world. If you do not have a Google Scholar profile, you may set one up by following this link.


[1] As historians we cover a wide array of topics of human interest, including social, political, economic and technological issues. Historical context for the purpose of this journal is very inclusive.  We encourage submissions from students in disciplines outside of history, so long as those submissions help explain historical events or human phenomena

Download the Call for Papers poster here.

Download a Call for Papers PowerPoint slide here.

Download a .png slide here.

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